Dawn Heywood, technical manager at Nutrition Point, on the great outdoors, the Hytte log cabin and the Lutefisk


What was your first job? Diners Den in Chester. It was a fast food-type of café and I worked there as a waitress during my sixth-form college days.

How do you describe your job to your mates? I help to get food they see in the supermarkets on to shelves.

What is the worst job you've ever had? I worked in a bakery where the manager was very 'old school'. There were no visions for the future and technical issues were not a primary concern.

If you could change one thing in grocery what would it be? The introduction of realistic timescales for NPD from concept to launch.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Speaking to the consumers who are on a gluten-free diet and hearing how much they enjoy our product range.

What is the least rewarding part? Travelling on Sundays and airport delays when visiting suppliers and customers. One year I got stuck at Frankfurt Airport when I should have been at the staff Christmas party.

If you didn't work in grocery where would you work? As a landscape gardener or as a country park ranger. I enjoy being outside in the fresh air and doing things with plants residual farmer tendencies.

If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? A Hytte (log cabin) in Norway.

What was the first music single you bought? 'I lost my heart to a Starship Trooper' by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip in 1978.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? A farmer because I liked the idea of driving a tractor and looking after all the animals.

What's your favourite movie and why? The Graduate because of its music and the era in which it was set. My parents always had music on at home and most of the time, back then, it was Simon and Garfunkel.

If you could pick a celebrity to join your staff who would it be and why? Oliver Reed because he lived life to the full and we could always have a few pints together.

What would you request as your final meal? My mother-in-law's chicken curry is delicious. It is made with a secret recipe that she was given 40 years ago by an Indian doctor.

What's the weirdest thing you've eaten? A Norwegian Lutefisk, which is cod that is fermented underground for a few months and considered to be a delicacy in Scandinavia. The taste is quickly removed if it's followed by a large shot of Aquavit.

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